Scott Shuster is a progressive columnist, having written for www.dubyad40.com, www.smirkingchimp.com, and www.opednews.com, as far back as May of 2005. His liberal ideology is a refreshing diversion from 'politics as usual' in Washington.

December 14, 2006

Did The Holocaust Really Happen?

I’m a huge fan of free speech. It’s the very first amendment in the Constitution of the United States of America and for very good reason. When our forefathers were seceding from England in the 1700’s, and laying down a foundation of self-governance, they felt it was paramount to provide protection for dissent. Theoretically, all people should have the right say what they want, without fear of retribution. In reality however, there are always limits and constraints. As they say - “Free speech doesn’t give you the right to yell ‘FIRE’ in a crowded theater”. The question is always one of balance… ‘Where do you draw the line?’

Mahmoud mouths off

In this article from CNN, the President of Iran held a conference in his own country, questioning the validity of the Holocaust. Here’s a small tidbit:

“His words received warm applause from delegates at the Holocaust conference… [snip]… who argue the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated.”

Even though Iran is one of the “…worst violators of free speech…”, I’ll still defend his prerogative to make whatever comments he wishes, simply in the spirit of protecting the freedom of speech for ALL mankind, both foreign & domestic. It’s unfortunate & pathetic however, that the leader of a country couldn’t set a better example than to spew hate-filled, provocative, inciting, and destructive rhetoric. Then again, when it comes to setting examples, I guess our own leader pretty much takes the cake.

In that same spirit of free speech, I give myself the prerogative to dissent to his comments…

My take on history

I’ve always believed that ‘truth’ and ‘facts’ are nebulous things. Each of us has our own version of truth & reality, and it really all comes down to beliefs. What do you believe to be real?

When it comes to history we have a number of sources that paint a picture of what really happened, a.k.a. the official account. While many of those accounts take the form of audio & video evidence, all accounts from before the advent of that technology are solely eyewitness depictions, documented as best as possible. Whether it’s from books/articles published or scribbling on cave walls, the bulk of the earth people’s history beyond 100 years is known through other people’s eyes. And don’t forget - each person sees things through their own perspective and hence their own filters.

Let’s take the Bible, for example. I think that the Bible consists of a collection of stories which have to be taken ‘with a grain of salt’ per se. I think it’s possible that some of the stories may have some roots in realism, but I also think that we can’t rely on all of them as absolute fact. Let’s face it – the stories of Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, and Noah & the ark are little more than fairy tales. I’ve always believed that these stories are largely vehicles for teaching our children righteous values.

The persecution of Jews is genuine

On the other hand, there are some things we can genuinely glean from the multitude of Bible scriptures. One of those gleanings is that Jews have been persecuted for generations. And even if you didn’t believe the Bible stories of being enslaved in Egypt (Passover & the book of Exodus) and the like, the persecution of Jews from the Holocaust is thoroughly documented with evidence well beyond eyewitness accounts. And the plethora of eyewitness accounts, some people still alive to this day, is utterly overwhelming.

One such account is the true story by Elie Wiesel entitled ‘Night’, a non-fiction account of his survival of the German concentration camps. And if that doesn’t completely affect you, then this will… As a child in religious school I saw a very disturbing documentary called ‘Night And Fog’, which depicted actual accounts of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The film was in black & white with actual footage. Seeing the thousands of bodies being bulldozed into mass graves is scarier than any horror film. When you’re watching Freddy, Jason, or Chucky mutilate some teenager, you can convince yourself it’s only a movie. This film was made in 1955 and it’s very, very real.

Jews aren’t the only ones persecuted

I don’t want to diminish or belittle the persecution of other races & cultures. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Jews, in this day & age, are not nearly as persecuted as some other peoples. While Jews continue to experience some measure of Anti-Semitism, I think the Jews and Israel have at least reached the point of being defensible. The Israeli military is widely respected as one of the most skilled and capable in the world. Much to Ahmadinejad’s delirious prediction, Israel isn’t going anywhere and the “Zionist regime” will never be “wiped out”.

On the other hand there are complete races/cultures of peoples who continue to suffer the hatefulness of genocide. My heart goes out to the people of Darfur. Over two years ago I remember (then Secretary of State) Colin Powell saying that there was genocide going on in Sudan. Two years later the Bush Administration continues to ignore the problem. Not everyone has, however. Yes, it’s the American Jewish World Service which founded the “Save Darfur Coalition” as a measure of “…coordinating like-minded humanitarian & advocacy organizations”. I urge my readers to follow the link above and see what American Jews are doing in this effort. Here's one snippet from that web page:

“As Jews, we have a particular moral responsibility to speak out and take action against genocide. We must respond and save as many lives as we can.”

So, what have we learned?

Well, first of all we’ve learned that the President of Iran - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in typical Iranian fashion, is ignorantly hateful of Israel. He’s clearly delirious to think that Israel, with or without the support of the US, wouldn’t be able to defend itself.

We learned that the Holocaust isn’t a myth – it really did happen – and there are literally millions of descendants with millions of dead ancestors to prove it.

We learned that there continues to be genocidal killing going on in various parts of the world.

And, we also learned that American Jews are taking the lead in addressing the genocide in Darfur.

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Umm Think about it the holocaust did really happen obvisoly are they going to make up 6 million names build those concentration camps build the annex that anne frank lived in just for fun so the can make up somthing to be racist against jewish people evil I am 13 years old and i can tell you that the holocaust even before reading this page of information

Umm Think about it the holocaust did really happen obvisoly are they going to make up 6 million names build those concentration camps build the annex that anne frank lived in just for fun so the can make up somthing to be racist against jewish people evil I am 13 years old and i can tell you that the holocaust did really happen even before reading this page of information

http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/antisemitism/holocaust/gedalyaliebermann.cfmGo to this link and read what the Zionist (Jews) did to assist Hitler in the persecution of the Jews and how they benefit from the word anti-Semite. Look up Benjamin Freedman or go to this link http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/israel/freedman.htm Find out how many Jewish soldiers where in Hitler’s army and how many of his Generals where Jews. Do you know that even Hitler’s chef was a Jewish lady? Look that up. Then before you sprout your ignorance on the internet find out whom the true Semites are and how they are being persecuted by the Zionist state. Then read what Jesus said about the Jews. It might shock you. I love all mankind including those who do evil. Forgiveness is for all mankind as well as salvation. If you read the Babylonian Talmud you will be shocked at what it says about non Jews and about Christians and most of all about Jesus Christ.

I am not going to go to the problem of citing any references,as a simply searchy will produce the general results.Let me first say, however,that I have always believed in the holocaust without doubt.Lately,though,I have come to wonder why some say it is a fraud.I,m not an expert,but listening to a supposed expert on cremation,I have to wonder about the disposal of six million corpses.When he started talking of the difficulty of incinerating a multitude of bodies made up of 75% water,I had to remember how difficult it is to burn a mass of wet wood.Or how long it takes.Not to mention the specs on how much fuel it would take.Was it really possible? Then I see the pictures of severely emaciated people and I have to wonder.Could that possibly be faked?Could they just be choice pictures from a camp that allied bombings had cut the shipments of food to.Do these eyewitnesses have any agenda?Do the nay-sayers have one.Is it just Aryan hatred toward Jews speaking?I have been told so many lies in a lifetime and believed so many either because I was naive or I wanted to believe.One thing I do know is that a picture may be worth a tho9usand words,but those words do not always tell reality.And multitudes of eyewitnesses does not always prove reliable.Are UFOs real?Nessie?Does the sun revolve around the earth?I am not anti-semite.I just would like to know unbiased reality.I am not saying it did or did not take place.If it didn't,it would have to be one of the biggest and best hidden hoaxes of all time.In any case, it is always hard to tell someone that their pain never happened in case it did. Especially in a very Zionistic country.It really has become taboo to even question whether it happened.But think of false rape charges.They do happen, but hardly anybody would publicly suggest a crying woman was not a victim.To conclude, I still lean towards the Holocaust being a fact,but I am no longer going to call someone who questions it an anti-Semite or an idiot.What is truth?

Life is too short to be that ignorant. peoples families and friends and so much more was taken from them around the 1930-1940's era. I loathe the thought of what those people had to go threw. If it didn't happen then why is there so much proof. Its like saying the twin towers were never hit in 2001. I wish the world wasn't so obliviously blind to the fact that we all contribute to our future, and everytime we let ignorance take control of our lives we are making ourselfs more vulnerable to destruction. Use your head and learn a little about history before you say stupid things about life that you werent around to endure.

The holocaust was a reality. I do have a concern however, that the Zionist are using it as an excuse to oppress palestinians and take land that does not belong to them. you don't suffer to let other people suffer too. It cheapens the blood of people who died in the Holocaust, Jews and Gypsies alike.

I believe that the Holocaust is a reality,we cant temper with reality/facts because they dont please us...but Zionism is as real as the Holocaust was, zionists are doing to muslims what was done to them decades ago...is that fair?why are they not labeled as terrorists?dont they qualify as one..?

The World Almanac for 1947 states that back in 1939 the world Jewish population was 15,688,259. The Almanac's figures were supplied by the American Jewish Committee. Next the Jewish-owned New York Times of February 22, 1948 stated the world Jewish population for that year amounted "to 15,600,000 to 18,700,000 in addition to the 600,000 to 700,000 living in Palestine." How could the Jewish population increase so rapidly over the war years if they had lost 6,000,000 people?It is interesting to note that in the Jews' real "bible", The Talmud, it is claimed that 800,000 Jews were slaughtered by the Romans in Hadrian's era. Yet there is no historical evidence to support this claim either. The Jewish-owned New York Times, in 1945 carried an article by the well known Jewish writer C.L. Sulzberger. It openly stated that Soviet Russia had supplied the figure of 4 million Jews having been put to death "in the gas chambers of Auschwitz." Thus it was the Judaeo-Communists and the Jews who initially originated these figures which today are accepted as "gospel truth". It is claimed that from 1934 to 1945 some 50,000 people died in the huge Bergen-Belsen camp. This count is considered exaggerated, still Time Magazine reports that of this figure 20,000 died of typhus during the single month of March, 1945! If nearly half died of this plague in just one month at the end of the war there is no way Bergen-Belsen could have been an "extermination camp".Following the rise of Hitler there were no more than 4 million Jews at most living in areas occupied by the Third Reich at the height of its power. Yet on June 30, 1965, the West German government announced that some 3,375,000 Jewish holocaust "survivors" had applied for reparations money. The International Red Cross had already reported in 1946 that of registered Jewish camp inmates no more than 300,000 could have died, and their audit to December 31, 1984 records a total 282,077 registered deaths of all internees in all German Concentration Camps from all causes. 1). Germans are meticulous record keepers but there is not one order for the construction of any gas chamber, no blueprint, no photo of any gas chamber or gassed victims. 2). There have been thousands of investigations of alleged Nazi war criminals, hundreds of trials, yet not one person was ever accused of being involved with actual gassings! No reliable witness on either side has ever come forward who saw a single person gassed - AND THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN OVER 10,000 MASS GASSINGS! 3). Photos of bodies at Dachau and Belsen camps are of prisoners who died of typhus and malnutrition. Many Germans also died from typhus. 4). The Vatican and Red Cross interviewed thousands of freed camp inmates at the end of the War about alleged gas chambers. The response was always the same, "The detainees themselves have not spoken of them" (Red Cross document No. 9925, June 1946).